Here’s another look at what we did on our outdoor trip this past weekend. We were separated into two groups: one hiking the Grand Canyon and another hiking around Mesa Verde in Colorado. We left the house on Sunday around 815am and headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We started at the South Kaibab trailhead and as Kevin was dropping the van off and caught a shuttle back, we had an AA meeting about our spiritual program.
After the meeting and making sure all of our packs were ready to go, we started the long trek down which was about 5 miles. We took a bathroom break, then transferred over to the Tonto trail that was another 5 miles to Indian Gardens where we set up camp for the next couple nights. We took a solid hour hiatus on the Tonto before we arrived at Indian Gardens. The campsite was compact with multiple sites very close to each other, so we saw a lot of groups there both days. We got a healthy dinner in, played cards, and had a good night’s rest for the journey that awaited us the next day.
We got up around 730am the next day and grabbed our day packs with snacks, water and our journals and set out on our hike for the day. We hiked about 4 miles from Indian Gardens down to Phantom Ranch next to the Colorado River. The sights were amazing and the canyon formations were magnificent. As we hiked down, there were great opportunities for photos. When we arrived at Phantom, we sat in a creek to cool down. It was at least 85 degrees when we got to Phantom. We did some journaling and replenished our systems before the mighty hike back up. It was around noon when we decided to hike back up. There is a brutal section of switchbacks called ‘Devil’s corkscrew’ that everyone triumphed over with ease. At the top of that section we decided to cool off again by a little creek which had multiple small waterfalls that was super calming and relaxing. We took a break there and held Sharing is Caring which was based on ‘using dreams’.
After, we hiked back up to Indian Gardens which totaled about 11 miles. Everyone was famished when we got back. We took a solid hour of rest then a Ranger stopped by and told us she was giving a presentation on the California Condor. We decided to go and listen to her talk about the impacts of this endangered species and how captivity is beneficial to this species. After the presentation, we all decided to go to Plateau Point to watch the sunset. We were standing at the edge of a cliff looking down at the Colorado River and getting the entire view of the Grand Canyon. As the sun went down, the different shades reflecting against the rocks and canyon walls was an incredible site to see! We reflected a little more on how this trip was a metaphor for our recovery process.
We headed back, played some cards and rested our legs for the test the next day. We woke up at 630 and got started at 730. Four miles of grueling switchbacks to not only test ourselves but our courage and bravery feeling the burn in every step. One resident had a slight ‘crumble’ but rebounded quickly by keeping his mind off the pain by talking to Germans in their German accent. With 1.5 miles to go, it was all downhill from there, figuratively. We all pushed through and finished the hike from Indian Gardens to the top of Bright Angel in 2.5 hours. Everyone conquered this mental and physical challenge and passed with flying colors. Another ‘hitter’ of a trip on the books for B2B!
